A farmer in Lixin County, Anhui Province, irrigates his fields on February 2, where local people are busy coping with a three-month-long drought.

The Chinese Government raised the drought emergency alert to the highest level for north China on February 5. Most parts of the region, the country's largest wheat-growing area, have seen rainfall of less than 20-50 percent of the average annual level since last November.

Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture showed that the drought had affected more than 10 million hectares of wheat throughout the country by February 5. Some 4.29 million people and 2.07 million livestock are also short of drinking water now.

The central finance has allocated 400 million yuan ($59 million) to support relief efforts.